Just the following day of the sexual misconduct allegation against the Curator of Serendipity Arts Festival Goa, renowned Indian Artist, Subodh Gupta had not only stepped aside from is post, but also went on denial mode, terming the whole episode as fabricated. The allegation against the Artist propped up yesterday after the post on anonymously-administered account in Instagram, “Scene and Herd went viral, following which, Gupta had quit his post. Gupta had quit the post of curator to uphold the dignity of the high office, he said and termed the Instagram post as ‘False and downright Fabricated.”

The post which appeared on the handle of Instagram had elaborately given the account by some women accusing Subodh Gupta of sexual misconduct. However, Gupta told the Indian Express that he not only denied the anonymous allegations made on the Instagram account but also defended himself, saying, “I have never behaved in an inappropriate fashion with any individual who worked wit me and several of my former assistants can vouch for it. These allegations are entirely false and fabricated.”

Gupta is a globally known artist and he is better known as “King of Screaming Metal”and also known by, “Damien Hirst of Delhi.” Subodh Gupta is in the top league of contemporary artists in India and that too he is the highly paid artists as well. Also known for the concept of ‘Ready-made” in art, choosing conceivably any object he can possibly lay his hand, be it stainless steel utensils or any other objects and he transforms that into monumental sculptures and installations. The IE report also cited the internal statement circulated to festival curators by the officials of the festival stating that Gupta had issued a statement stating that he was stepping aside till the allegation on him was cleared and added that he would not be taking part in the festival so as not to detract from the concerted efforts of over 90 projects at the festival this year.

As the #MeToo campaign is gathering momentum, the Editor-turned-Former Union Minister, MJ Akbar is in deep trouble with more than a dozen women accusing him of sexual harassment, more particularly the US-based journalist, Pallavi Gogoi coming up with a startling revelation accusing him of rape, repeated sexual abuse and violent behaviour, IE reported.

Gogoi, currently the Chief Business Editor with National Public Radio in New York had earlier served as reporter at The Asian Age, when Akbar was the Editor-in-Chief. Washington Post had published the article of Gogoi on Thursday about the Ex-Minister and Rajya Sabha MP’s sexapades. Although more than a dozen women have accused the former Editor of sexual harassment, this is for the first time a woman (Gogoi) had levelled serious allegations of rape against Akbar.

Denial Mode

As soon as the account of Gogoi was published in the Washington Post, Akbar went on denial mode. Akbar and his wife Mallika issued separate statements yesterday, terming Gogoi’s revelation as “False” and a “Lie.”It may be recalled that during the start of the this week, Akbar had recorded evidence in his defamation suit against journalist, Priya Ramani, who was the first person to name him in a Twitter post on October 8, 2018, noted the report.

Unravelling mystery

Gogoi had served The Asian Age in New Delhi in the early 1990’s when she was 22 years old. In her article, she had written elaborately as to how Akbar, the then Editor-in-Chief of The Asian Age “used his position to prey” on her. In the article published in Washington Post, Gogoi stated, “What I am about to share are the most painful memories of my life. I have shelved them away for 23 years.”

When Gogoi was on an assignment in Jaipur, Akbar raped her for the first time. When she was on an assignment, Akbar had asked her to come over to his hotel where he stayed in Jaipur to have discussion about a story. “In his hotel room, even though I fought him, he was physically more powerful. He ripped off my clothes and raped me. Instead of reporting him to the police, I was filled with shame. I didn’t tell anyone about this then. Would anyone have believed me? I blamed myself. Why did I go to the hotel room?”

When she was “start-struck” young reporter, Gogoi had to bear Akbar’s verbal abuse right from the beginning. However, in 1994, when Gogoi became the op-ed editor after putting in a year’s experience in her career that Akbar assaulted her in his office behind closed doors.

“I went to show him the op-ed page I had created with what I thought were clever headlines. He applauded my effort and suddenly lunged to kiss me. I reeled,” she wrote adding that she immediately confided in her colleague Tushita (Patel) who witnessed the look on her face as she emerged from his office “red-faced, confused, ashamed, destroyed.”

Gogoi had also narrated a second incident a few months later when she was summoned to Mumbai to help launch a magazine. “Akbar called me to his room at the fancy Taj hotel, again to see the layouts. When he again came close to me, to kiss me, I fought him and pushed him away. He scratched my face as I ran away, tears streaming down,” Gogoi stated and added that after she returned to Delhi, she chose not to quit the daily despite a “livid” Akbar threatening “to kick me out of the job if I resisted him again.”

Describing the alleged sexual assault in Jaipur, Gogoi alleged, “His grip over me got tighter”. “I stopped fighting his advances because I felt so helpless. He continued to coerce me. For a few months, he continued to defile me sexually, verbally, emotionally. He would burst into loud rages in the newsroom if he saw me talking to male colleagues my own age. It was frightening. And I died a little every day.”

Gogoi also elaborated how the abuse continued even after she was sent to The Asian Age’s London office with Akbar flying into a jealous rage when he spotted her talking to male colleagues “he hit me and went on a rampage, throwing things from the desk at me – a pair of scissors, a paperweight, whatever he could get his hands on”. Gogoi alleges that she finally quit when Akbar summoned her back to Mumbai and went on to take up a job as a reporting assistant at Dow Jones in New York.

Gogoi, now a citizen of America, said that she is speaking out in the wake of all #MeToo accounts by many journalists whom Akbar has threatened to sue. Gogoi wrote: “He feels he is entitled to make up his own version of ‘truth’ today, just like he felt entitled to our bodies then.”

Hours after Gogoi’s account was published by the Washington Post, Akbar issued a statement terming as false the allegations of rape and violence. “Somewhere around 1994, Pallavi Gogoi and I entered into a consensual relationship that spanned several months. This relationship gave rise to talk and would later cause strife in my home life as well. This consensual relationship ended, perhaps not on the best note,” Akbar said in the statement and added that people who worked with him were willing to testify and that “at no stage, did the behaviour of Pallavi Gogoi, give any one of them the impression that she was working under duress.”

Akbar’s spouse, Mallika Akbar too issued a separate statement, dismissing Gogoi’s account as a “lie” and said, “I have been silent all this while as a ‘#MeToo’ campaign has been unleashed against my husband, MJ Akbar. Gogoi’s article alleging rape had forced me to step in and blamed Gogoi for causing ‘unhappiness and discord’ in her family more than two decades ago. I learned of Gogoi and my husband’s involvement through her late night phone calls and her public display of affection in my presence. What is more, I had confronted my husband at that time and he decided to prioritise his family.”

Mallika also said that Tushita Patel (who had earlier accused Akbar of assault) and Pallavi Gogoi, who were often at their home “happily drinking and dining with us”, didn’t carry “the haunted look of victims of sexual assault”.

In her account, Gogoi also said that she had shared her ordeal with Suparna Sharma. Sharma told IE, “Akbar had a pattern then, in the way he preyed on and sexually abused and assaulted women, and he has a pattern now, in the way he is reacting to allegations against him.”

Sharma, currently, the Resident Editor for The Asian Age in Delhi, pointed out that in Gogoi’s case, Akbar was the boss who preyed on a junior he had brought to The Asian Age from The Telegraph, from Kolkata to Delhi.

“Akbar was ignoring their massive age gap. He was conveniently ignoring incidents she has narrated, often witnessed by others, of how he manipulated her to be alone and vulnerable by sending her off to other cities on assignments and then going there himself and assaulting her, of breaking her spirit. The power equation between them never changed as Gogoi had to literally run away, to another country, to save herself, and start her life and career from scratch.”

In a related development, the Editor’s Guild of India, in a statement issued on Friday, said that it was “discussing further course of action” in view of the ‘fresh, and serious allegations of sexual misconduct” against Akbar, a past president of the Guild. The Executive council will seek his explanation to the allegations, following which “a decision on his membership will be taken”.

Parle Tilak Vidyalaya Association’s Institute of Management organised a conference on Empowering Women towards Leadership, which was held in association with Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW). Many prominent women personalities graced the event with their presence like Varsha Pawar Tawde, National Secretary, Bhartiya Stree Shakti and counsellor, Dr. Manjusha Molwane, Member Secretary, MSCW, Dr. Nishigandha Naik, Director, Haffkine Institute of Research, RJ Archana from Radio City, among many others. The conference was aimed at analysing women’s aspirations and socio-cultural backgrounds fostering leadership roles and understanding gender sensitisation and the challenges associated with it.

The discussion was focused on addressing the changing role of women across sectors, limitations in women leadership, the role of the society towards encouraging women leaders and global issues affecting women leadership. Dr. Snehalata Deshmukh, Former Mumbai University Vice Chancellor and Chief Mentor at PTVAIM, opened the conference and said, “Women-centred family education is the most important aspect of a healthy society. Empowered women play an indispensable role in the development of a country. We are very glad to have such eminent personalities amongst us today and extend a very warm welcome to everyone present here.”

Varsha Pawar Tawade

Chief Guest of the day, Varsha Tawde said, “Last few years have seen a realization among Indians towards the importance of women empowerment. Starting from focusing on the welfare of women to delving into the importance of economic independence and finally women empowerment, there has been a gradual shift in the planning of societal growth.

Dr. Manjusha Molwane discussed current issues like “Me too” and the role of Mahila Ayog towards it. She also mentioned about UGC Saksham guidelines, 2015 about harassment of women at workplace and unawareness of colleges about these guidelines.

PTVAIM in association with the MSCW has addressed various opportunities that exist for women for different roles in the society, from creating awareness about the inbuilt strength of women to lead. The collaboration aims at initiating a dialogue and empowering women towards furthering their fundamental rights in every walk of life.

The #MeToo Movement, originated in the US is now catching up like a wild fire in India as the list is growing by the day. Women from all spectrum of society are now coming up with startling revelations about how they were being subjected to sexual harassment while at work. It all started off with Tanushree Dutta opening the lid of controversy by once again accusing Bollywood actor, Nana Patekar of harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008. She boldly gave interview to the media about the issue, which empowered many affected women to come out in the open speaking loud. Many of the complaints are from the film industry and in addition to media and other corporate world.

In Nana Patekar’s case, Tanushree Dutta came up with a revelation that the former tried to harass her on the sets of the film Horn Ok Pleasss back in 2008. Although the actress had lodged a formal complaint back then, apparently, no concrete action came about. After the #MeToo started gaining ground in India, Dutta once again recounted her memories about the sexual harassment that triggered many women in the country to come out with their experiences of their #MeToo stories. Stoutly denying the allegation, Patekar had said, “What should I say? I said ten years ago. The truth, which was ten years ago remains the same today and will continue to be tomorrow as well.” Dutta has filed a written complaint against Patekar and Mumbai police had started the inquiry.

After Patekar, Alok Nath, the yesteryear television actor who is embroiled in the #MeToo controversy. The television writer and director, Vinta Nanda posted in the social media page of Facebook alleging Nath sexually assaulting her 19 years ago. What is more, Nanda also alleged that the actor had sexually harassed the lead actress, Navneet Nishan on the set of the show. Following suit, actress Sandhya Mridul also came forward with her experience of being harassed by Nath, while they were shooting a tele-film. And that is not all. Actress, Deepika Amin too came forward with allegation that Nath had sexually harassed her as well. Another woman who had worked with Nath on the film, Hum Saath Saath Hain also had come forward with allegation that the actor had sexually harrassed her. Apparently, Nath and his lawyer are now contemplating on filing a defamation suit against Vinta Nanda and Sandhya Mridul.

Next in trouble is Vikas Bahl. A female employee at Phantom Films accused that Bahl had sexually harassed her when the crew of Bombay Velvet went to Goa for promotions. Alleging that Bahl had insisted on dropping her off to her hotel room, she further said the actor had harassed her in an inebriated condition. Again, Bahl has now threatened to file defamation cases against his partners at Phantom Films, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane as they had spoken about the case to the media. As allegations and counter allegations galore, the Indian Film and Television Director’s Association has issued a show-cause notice to Vikas Bahl. The next person who landed in trouble is actor and filmmaker Rajat Kapoor, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by a few women on Twitter. A journalist said that he asked her really uncomfortable questions, while another woman alleged that almost ten years ago, Kapoor used to call her “Incessantly” from actor Saurabh Shukla’s mobile phone. Furthermore, the woman also had alleged that Kapoor did ask her whether she knew of empty houses, only then she had realised the implication of what he had said. Later Kapoor did apologise to that lady. Kailash Kher is another celebrity who is in the news for wrong reasons. A journalist has come forward with her allegation against Kher, stating that the singer had touched her inappropriately, when she went to interview him. A fan of Kher from Kolkata had alleged that he had harassed her. Singer, Sona Mahapatra has also come forward with allegation that Kher had harassed her on many occasions. Kher did apologise on October 8.
Abhijeet Bhattacharya, the Bollywood singer is the man in trouble, where a flight attendant had accused him of sexually harassing her in a pub in Kolkata. The singer had remarked about the allegation to the media that “Most of the fat and ugly girls are blaming and I wasn’t born at that time.”
A woman had levelled allegation that in 2001, Arun Grover had harassed her during the rehearsal of a play. Of course, he had denied the allegation and took to Twiter, where he wrote: “Never touched any person inappropriately in life.”
The director of Hindi films, Anurag Kashyap held that he refused to believe any allegation about Varun.
If all these allegations are happening in Bollywood and Delhi, down south, Kollywood lyricist Vairamuthu is in the news for wrong reasons. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada had come up with the accusation that at least on two occasions, the poet had made her feel uncomfortable and she further alleged that she was also told that “she won’t have a career” should the vocalist fail to cooperate. As the allegation has become sensational in the industry circles, Vairamuthu rubbished all allegations. Chinmayi is not the only woman to complain about Vairamuthu, as there are more women coming forward with the allegation of sexual harassment. Also, an upcoming singer, whose story was shared by Chinmayi went like this: Raghu Dixit tried to kiss the singer in his studio, when she came for a song recording. In another Tweet, Chinmayi wrote about the story of a singer who said Raghu asked her to sit on his lap during one of their meetings at his studio. Promptly, Dixit issued an apology. Merely, by issuing apology, will the matter die down is the question that begs an answer.
As many of them are taking to social media and coming up revelations, the police cannot suo moto take up the case. Unless, the affected persons lodge a written complaint, the police will not be able to initiate inquiries, the police told.

In the Mollywood, actor cum MLA, M Mukesh is in trouble as a casting director had accused that she was harassed by the actor in Chennai, while working on the Malayalam quiz show, Koteeswaran. She had further alleged that Mukesh had called her room many times and even shifted his room to the one next to hers. When queried by the media, Mukesh said he has no memory of working with her.

The Communist Party of India Marxist, CPI (M) has today demanded the resignation of the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar, after some women journalists accused him of sexually harassing them, according to a PTI report.

The CPI (M) statement further said the seven women journalists had come forward recounting their experience of sexual harassment and unacceptable behaviour by Akbar. The campaign, #MeToo is gaining more steam in India, as some journalists have come out in the open and accused Akbar of sexually harassing them during their stint as journalists. Akbar was holding editor’s position several newspapers such as Daily Telegraph, Asian Age etc., before he entered into active politics. In a statement, the CPI (M) said, “Since these are serious charges, MJ Akbar’s continuance as a the Minister of State in the Central government is untenable. He should immediately resign from office.”